8 January 2023

• Disaster: The Prime Minister's Office held a high-level meeting on the Joshimath land-subsidence crisis. Over 560 homes had developed cracks. The Uttarakhand government banned new construction in the town.
• Infrastructure: PM Modi flagged off MV Ganga Vilas, the world's longest river cruise, from Varanasi. The vessel will travel 3,200 kilometres over 51 days.
• Polity: The Uttarakhand administration declared four wards of Joshimath entirely unsafe for habitation and began relocating residents.
• Environment: NTPC deployed rapid rehabilitation support for evacuated Joshimath families while central scientific agencies were directed to study causes of subsidence.

GS area: Disaster Management, Environment (geophysical phenomena)

The Prime Minister's Office held a high-level inter-agency meeting on 8 January 2023 to assess the Joshimath crisis. Over 560 houses in the town had developed cracks, and four wards were declared entirely unsafe.

• Location: Joshimath (also written Jyotirmath) is in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, at an altitude of 1,890 metres in the Garhwal Himalayas. It is the gateway to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib.
• Geology: The town sits on an ancient landslide deposit. Underlying rocks are weathered gneiss with low bearing capacity. The town lies in Seismic Zone V, India's highest-risk zone.
• Triggers: The 2013 Kedarnath floods weakened the geological foundation. The 2021 Rishi Ganga flooding added stress. A tunnel boring project for the Vishnugad Tapovan hydroelectric project punctured water-bearing rock strata in 2009 according to earlier assessments.
• ISRO-NRSC data: Satellite imagery from NRSC (National Remote Sensing Centre) showed the town subsided 5.4 centimetres between 27 December 2022 and 8 January 2023. Over the preceding seven months it had sunk 8.9 centimetres cumulatively.
• Central response: Eight central organisations were directed to submit remedial recommendations within two weeks.
• Four unsafe wards: Sunil, Manohar Bagh, Gandhinagar and Singdhar were declared completely unsafe.

Static linkage: Disaster management, Himalayan ecology (GS Papers 1 and 3).

GS area: Economy (inland waterways), Geography

Prime Minister Modi flagged off MV Ganga Vilas on 13 January 2023 from Varanasi (the announcement and preparation culminated on 8 January). The vessel is the world's longest river cruise ship.

• Route: Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh. Total distance: 3,200 kilometres across 27 river systems over 51 days.
• Stops: 50 major tourist destinations including Sarnath, Patna, Kolkata, the Sunderbans Delta and Kaziranga National Park.
• Vessel specifications: Three decks, 18 suites, capacity for 36 guests. Designed for luxury river tourism.
• Institutional backing: Operated by Antara Luxury River Cruises under the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) framework.
• Policy significance: Demonstrates the operational viability of National Waterways as commercial tourism corridors. India has declared 111 national waterways; 13 are operational.
• Bangladesh transit: The route uses the India-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, which enables Indian vessels to transit Bangladesh's rivers.

Static linkage: Inland waterways, economic geography (GS Papers 1 and 3).

GS area: Disaster Management, Geography

The Joshimath crisis drew attention to India's seismic zone classification and the associated risk of building infrastructure in high-hazard areas.

• BIS seismic zoning: The Bureau of Indian Standards classifies India into four seismic zones (II to V). Zone V is the highest risk; Zone II is the lowest.
• Zone V areas: The entire northeast, parts of the Himalayan states, Kashmir, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Kutch in Gujarat.
• Zone IV: Delhi, Sikkim, most of Jammu and Kashmir, and the Himalayan foothills.
• Joshimath: Falls in Zone V.
• Building codes: The National Building Code of India prescribes earthquake-resistant construction standards by zone. Compliance in hill towns has historically been weak.
• NDMA guidelines: The National Disaster Management Authority has issued seismic vulnerability guidelines for hill towns specifically.

Static linkage: Natural hazards, disaster management (GS Paper 3).

GS area: Environment, Governance

NTPC's Tapovan Vishnugad Hydroelectric Power Project (520 MW) involves a 12.1-kilometre tunnel through the hills above Joshimath. Earlier scientific studies linked tunnel boring and the resulting seepage of water into the fragile foundation soil to the acceleration of subsidence.

• NTPC's role in relief: Paradoxically, NTPC also provided rapid humanitarian support to evacuated families, including temporary shelter. This illustrates the complex relationship between project developers and affected communities.
• Hydroelectric development versus risk: The central Himalayan region has multiple large hydroelectric projects. The 2013 Kedarnath disaster and the 2021 Chamoli flash flood have raised questions about cumulative environmental stress.
• Environmental clearance review: Central agencies were directed to re-examine whether construction activities in the region had been properly assessed for geotechnical risks.

Static linkage: Environmental impact assessment, disaster management (GS Papers 2 and 3).

GS area: International Relations, Economy

The MV Ganga Vilas transit through Bangladesh's rivers rests on the India-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade. This bilateral framework governs the use of each country's inland waterways for the other's commercial and passenger vessels.

• Framework: The protocol dates to 1972 and is renewed periodically. It designates specific routes and ports of call on each country's rivers.
• Trade significance: The protocol enables Indian vessels to use the Brahmaputra-Barak river system and Bangladesh's rivers to reach India's northeast without crossing the Siliguri Corridor (Chicken's Neck).
• Connectivity goal: Part of India's Act East Policy to improve physical connectivity with the northeast and with Bangladesh.
• Siliguri Corridor: The narrow strip of land (around 22 kilometres wide) connecting the northeast to mainland India. Improved waterway connectivity reduces strategic dependence on this single land corridor.

Static linkage: International relations, northeast connectivity (GS Paper 2).

• Census delay: The 2021 Census has been postponed to 2024-25 due to COVID-19. The boundary-freezing deadline for administrative delimitation was extended to 30 June 2023.
• BIND scheme: Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development scheme provides 100 per cent central funding to expand Prasar Bharati coverage to remote and border areas. Target: 66 per cent geographical coverage, 80 per cent population coverage.
• Parshuram Kund (Arunachal Pradesh): A Hindu pilgrimage site on the Lohit River, being developed under the PRASHAD scheme. PRASHAD stands for Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive.